God in the media

Given that we are only a few days out from Christmas, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to take a look at the various religious programs that television and radio have on offer. As I channel surfed throughout the wee hours of last Sunday morning I discovered, wedged between late night infomercials and Video Hits Up-late, a preacher sounding very much like Harry Dean Stanton's character from Big Love (a US television satire set in the Mormon dominated Sate of Utah) telling me how God can change my life.

Anyone opting for very late night tellie may find himself or herself mildly hypnotised by the semi-charismatic powers of US religious broadcasters Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Bayless Conley and James Robinson. If you're not into cashed-up right wing evangelicals telling you how to lead your life via paid-time television programs that go by titles such as Leading the Way, Hour of Power and It is Written, you may find Melbourne's own Mass For You at Home at 6am on Sunday mornings more solemn and far more sobering. For those who don't mind a bit of religious revelry, the spirited Hillsong gang performing Christian rock tunes at suburban mega-churches may impress. Surely, there has to be a better way of quenching one's spiritual thirst than this.

The 18th century Anglo-Irish satirist, Jonathan Swift, described religion as a social apparatus crucial to intellectual and spiritual advancement. Although Swift was talking about the value of Christianity in early 1700s England, his reasoning could easily apply to the lack of serious religious discourse and spiritual stimulus on Australian television today.

Most of us need intellectual stimulation to guide us in a world that is becoming increasing complex and contradictory. We also need spiritual nourishment to sustain us in a world that appears increasingly confusing, unpredictable and meaningless. A forum where spiritual leaders and experts from all faiths are able to come together to engage in intelligent religious discourse can help satisfy these needs.

As well as high rating programs such as 60 Minutes, A Current Affair, Sunrise, Today and commercial radio talkback are able to stimulate public debate on social and ethical issues, they can rarely do it with the intellectual rigor, impartiality, sensitivity and intelligence as, for example, ABC's Compass, Radio National's The Spirit of Things and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald blog, Write Religion.

This, I suspect, is because commercial media executives believe that deep and lengthy discussion on faith and religion will cause audiences to switch off. Hiring out dead air space to US tele-evangelists seems to be a safer business option.

When commercial networks do venture into metaphysical territory, they tend to produce pseudo-spiritual programs like The Secret, Crossing Over, Psychic Investigators and Australia's own The One.

Entertaining and thought provoking as these shows may be to many, they do very little to challenge the mind and nourish the soul. Moreover, they rely on a smoke and mirror approach typically associated with dodgy shamanic practices to win their market share of the television audience.

Quality media programs that provide sensible inter-faith discourse also serve as a foil against the unfair attacks on minority faiths and new religious movements by commercial media.

We have seen how sensationalist reporting has demonised the Islamic faith over the years. And we have seen how certain commercial current affairs programs and indeed the tabloid press dismiss marginal religious groups as crackpots cults.

This is not to suggest that religious institutions and cults should be above public scrutiny - far from it. I am all for religious organisations receiving criticism provided it is done fairly, accurately and intelligently.

The defunct Radio National's Religion Report has, for instance, managed to do this well over the years. And it has done so while placing a few ecclesiastical noses out of joint. We can only hope that the promise to replace this program with a better alternative will be delivered early next year.

I, however, suspect that religious programs of this type will eventually disappear from our airwaves for the simple reason that media executives see faith-focused programs as a commodity that does not yield the material returns that they bank on these days.

Surely this cannot be a good thing at a time when the majority no longer look to scripture, the church, spiritual leaders and indeed god for moral guidance and spiritual sustenance. A pluralistic liberal secular society such as Australia offers many good alternatives - late night tele-evangelical preaching isn't one them.

Does anyone have advice on how one's spiritual and intellectual needs can be satisfied at a time when reference to spirituality seem dull, cliched and uninspiring?